Page 2 of Cakewalk
He frowned and lifted up the back of his head a few inches from the frosted sidewalk, reaching his hand around to touch the point of impact. He ran his fingers through his chestnut hair, then held his fingertips in front of his still-dazed face. “Uh oh,” was all he said, and I gripped his hand, turning it toward me to see for myself.
I immediately became lightheaded when I saw his blood. “Oh, God. I didn’t just ruin a custom three-tiered cake—I’ve murdered a handsome stranger!”
“I don’t think I’m dead just yet.”
I breathed, realizing I was catastrophizing, as I tended to do. He was fine. Just a little dazed. The cake, on the other hand… I chose not to think about that right now. “Can you sit up?”
He nodded and pushed himself up to a seated position. His head wobbled a little, then he looked down at the crotch of his pants, where a sizable chunk of cake had landed. He grabbed a piece and popped it in his mouth before I could stop him.
I winced. “Jeez, I don’t think you should be eating right now.”
“That’s really good. You’re very talented.”
“The only thing I did was hurl it at you. My sister’s the one who made it. And she’s going to kill me when she finds out what happened.”
He looked around, assessing the scene of the crime. “We can hide the evidence. It’s nothing a good hosing off won’t clean.”
“Sounds like you’ve done this before.”
He stood, clumps of cake falling off his chest and lap, revealing a fashionable suit that was undoubtedly tailor made. “I’m used to cleaning up messes,” he said. “It’s sorta what I do.”
With a suit like that, he most definitely wasn’t from around here—or at least he hadn’t made his riches here. That slight southern accent suggested that maybe he wasn’tsucha stranger, though.
I rose with him. “That’s good news for me, because I do nothingbutmake messes.”
“A match made in heaven, then.” He smiled, and the charming twinkle in his eyes made me swoon dreamily. Nobody had made me feel that way in God knows how long. High school, probably.
I cleared my throat. He still seemed pretty out of it, and I worried just how nice he’d be once the haze cleared. I had to get this guy cleaned up and checked out. I wasn’t in a hurry to see how bad the gash was on the back of his head, but I’d have to just toughen up and do it. There weren’t exactly any hospitals nearby.
“Let’s head back to the cake shop. There’s a sink for you to wash up in, and a first aid kit.”
“Okay,” he said simply, still blinking hard. I held him by his upper arm and led him down the sidewalk.
“Not to victim-blame,” I started, “but how’d you not see me coming from a mile away?”
“I was… a bit distracted by my phone.”
“That must’ve been one funny cat video.”
He snorted, which caught me by surprise. One, because he actually found me funny, and two, because I never expected a handsome man to make a noise like that.
It was kinda cute.
“Speaking of my phone,” he mumbled, taking a long hard look at both of his hands.
“Oh! You must’ve dropped it.” I ran off a few feet to the cake massacre, digging through the strawberry guts to find his smartphone. I pulled it out from inside the carnage and wiped off the frosting, only to see that the screen was completely shattered. Now this guy wasreallygoing to hate me, and so was Courtney and Madison.
Today was not my day.
I ran back to his side and handed him his phone. “I don’t think it’s working,” I said softly.
“Good.” He tucked it into his pocket.
“Good?”
“Now I have a good excuse for ignoring everyone.”
“Oh. Well, you’re welcome then. Let me know next time you need me to break another phone. It’s kinda my thing.”
